Winter Palace
by MoonxLauri
Summary: Storyteller Till set in the Dangerverse of Danger Days


It was winter by the time Till came home to Germany, with the water turned to ice, and the endless forest blanketed in white. The trees had become an enormous palace that glittered sharply in the sunlight, blinding those who gazed for too long. But the breathtaking beauty held no appeal for the man whose mind was elsewhere.

The thoughts that consumed Till consisted of the thoughts of returning home, and the welfare of his three companions. He was worried about how they had fared in the new country for two winters alone, which was quite different from the place they had come from. He knew, of course, that California was not compromised of deserts alone but a mixture of geography and climate. They would have fared somehow. They were Killjoys. But still he worried. Till knew his mind would be at ease once he returned home and saw that everyone was safe and sound.

But despite the man's steady pace, a month of walking had passed before he was close to home. He always hated this last leg of his journey home; it seemed that every step was the exact same as the last, moving him neither forward nor backwards. A truly aggravating feeling. It was a cause of great relief when he finally saw Mikey, standing at the edge of the abandoned village and waiting to meet him. A grin lit up Till's face, softening the hard edges and bringing crinkles to the edges of his eyes. He happily hailed the younger man with a loud greeting which was reciprocated as Mikey walked towards him. As the peroxide blonde man came closer Till noticed that Mikey was looking thinner than when he last saw him. This worried Till greatly, and led to the questioning thoughts of how Ray and Frank were faring. The latter was of the most concern, seeing as he struggled with a less-than-stellar immune system, and in such an isolated location could lead to dire conditions. It was a constant undercurrent of fright between the three men that Frank would one day not recover from an illness he might catch.

"You're thinner; did you not find enough food before winter?" Till commented as the two trudged towards home.

"We found enough - and we just look that way because you've been gone for two years."

Till grimaced at this. "I would give up my wandering and my storytelling if I could, but-"

"Both sides need you. We understand, Till, we're not children. And… before we get home I have to tell you… Frank's bronchitis came back a couple of days ago."

A look of concern came to Till's face as his brows knitted. "What can be done to help him? If I left now, I could reach the local Killjoy doctor within two or three weeks, if we made quick time with his horses we'd be back in maybe a week and a half-" but then he shook his head and sighed. "... I should've bought horses for you three in case of this. I didn't think to do so because I'm gone every two years..." he fretted, to which Mikey made a dismissive motion as he shook his head.

"Don't go, he's been looking forward to seeing you ever since you went away. And besides - his body will fight it off, he's done it before. I just wanted to warn you so you didn't think it was strange that he wasn't jumping all over you when you got home."

At this show of obvious teasing Till managed to muster a small smile though the rest of the walk was spent in silence. Upon being lead to his own cottage, Till's heart constricted with fright; perhaps Frank was sicker than what Mikey had told him. The younger man must have realized this as he pushed open the door, for he turned back and assured Till that Frank wasn't in life threatening condition, he was just very tired and feverish. Ray met them in the living room warning the two to keep quiet seeing as Frank had just fallen asleep. To this Mikey snorted and rolled his eyes (Frank was known as a heavy sleeper) but nonetheless tried to keep quiet as he took off his winter gear.

"Any sightings of BL/ind?" Till inquired as he and Mikey warmed themselves by the fire that Ray had bright to life. The curly haired man shook his head; this did not surprise Till, as he had guessed BL/ind would not disturb him, but it always paid to be vigilant. One never knew what the corporation might decide to do.

"But some Killjoys did stop by some time ago - I didn't hear them knocking, but when I went to get more snow to boil I saw their gifts. I've left them on the table for you."

"Thank you, Ray. I do think it's best if others don't know that you three live with me; best to just let BL/ind think that you died at sea. And at the same time, I want to thank you both for staying with me; I would be quite the lonely Storyteller without your company."

Mikey shook his head. "Don't thank us. If not for you we would have died in our boats - it should be us showering you with gifts. But Frank said - should he fall asleep, he wanted us to wake him up so we could open our gifts together."

The older man chuckled at this and excused himself to go check on said sick man. He found unsurprisingly that Frank was - in fact - awake, though he was merely gazing blankly off at the ceiling, absorbed in it. He was lying in Till's bed, half undressed with the blankets up to his waist and a bucket beside his bed.

"I thought you would be sleeping." Till stated drawing Frank's eyes to him and bringing a tired smile to the younger one's lips.

"I was just resting my eyes." His exhaustion from his illness was clear even as he joked.

"Sleep, and I'll wake you up in time for presents."

"No-" Frank's protest was cut off by his harsh coughing which ended with him spitting into the bucket. "-please stay, you've been gone so long and you give the best massage for headaches - all this coughing has been giving me a lot of them."

Till smiled and settled on the bed beside him. "I've missed you too, sweetheart," he said gently. "and I just didn't want to bother you while you're sick."

"Till, you'd never bother me." Frank mumbled as he struggled to stay awake, rubbing at his eyes and yawning. Till again smiled and lightly ran his index and middle fingertips over Frank's eyelids, very gently forcing him to close his eyes. In this way Till stroked the tension from Frank's face and guided him to sleep. As he stroked and caressed his little one's flushed but relaxed face, he bent so that his forehead rest against Frank's.

"My little one." He murmured before he laid beside Frank, his heart swelling with tenderness when Frank curled up to him, resting his head on Till's chest as if Till had only just settled back into bed with him, rather than having returned from a two year journey. It was one of the best gifts Frank could have given him.


End file.
